


a fresh start

by seothsayers



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - Retail, Christmas Fluff, M/M, New Year's Eve, yes i know its july
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:13:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25208281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seothsayers/pseuds/seothsayers
Summary: jungwoo ends up working in retail after he graduates and every day he feels like he is a step closer to selling his soul to the devil to get out of there. a random encounter with yukhei reminds him of the things he'd let slip between his fingers.
Relationships: Kim Jungwoo/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	a fresh start

**Author's Note:**

> look.... i know its july but this is set at christmas bc as someone who works in retail and who came up with this au to vent about how much i hate retail, it is the perfect time to set it. but also the general theme of this is graduating so i think it is a good time to post it anyway as a lot of ppl will be graduating rn and with current global circumstances, you might be feeling even more stressed than jungwoo !! as someone who graduated almost exactly a year ago, i'm here to tell you things will be ok!!!! if you know what you're doing, great and if you don't, that's ok too!! these things take time!!! can you tell i wish someone had said this to me. also sometimes you just need feel good xmas fic. even if its july. anyway! on with the fic!
> 
> side note: im from the uk so the education system represented here reflects that

Retail was horrific on the best of days, but at Christmas it was something else. Jungwoo had been steeling himself since the end of October for the increase in customers, but each day he is taken by surprise at how horrible people can be.

Its December 15th, bright and early, and Jungwoo grits his teeth as a wave of customers come flooding into the store and begin rushing around. He has never been one to be able to hide how he is feeling, so he isn’t surprised when Sooyoung grins when she walks past him furiously scrubbing the fixtures. “It’s only going to get worse,” She says, laughing when Jungwoo glares at her.

Three hours later, Jungwoo is starving. He goes through the motions of scanning items, detagging them and asking if the customer needs a bag but all he can think about is whatever it was that Jaehyun had made him for his lunch. Jungwoo was going to buy him something nice when his next paycheck came through.

“Next please!”

Jungwoo is still thinking about lunch so it takes him a moment to realise who is standing opposite him. Speak of the devil.

“Long day?” Jaehyun asks with a laugh.

“Always.” Jungwoo sighs. “What are you doing here?”

“I came by to see you of course.” Jaehyun says, placing a pair of socks on the counter. “Had to buy these to do it though.”

“Well what did you want to talk about?” Jungwoo asks, picking up the socks.

“Johnny’s throwing an impromptu Christmas party tonight and you’re coming – its non-negotiable. I know you don’t have work tomorrow.” Jaehyun continues before Jungwoo has a chance to complain. “You’ve been working non-stop for weeks, I see you for maybe half an hour each day and all our friends miss you. I’m even going to make it easy for you – its fancy dress, but I know you’ll be tired, so I’ll just lay out a cute outfit for you on your bed. I’ll make you dinner, so all you have to do is reheat it. There’s already wine in the fridge so you can bring that if you want to drink _and_ I’ll transfer you money so you can Uber over to Johnny’s place.”

Jungwoo slides the socks and Jaehyun’s change across the counter. “You really thought of everything, huh.”

“Of course. They don’t call me Jaehyun Big Brained Jung for nothing.”

“No-one calls you that.” Jungwoo says, with a laugh and Jaehyun grins.

“Johnny would definitely call me it if I asked and that’s what matters.” Jaehyun says. “I’ll see you later?” He asks, hopeful.

Jungwoo sighs. “I guess.”

Jaehyun blows Jungwoo a kiss and turns to leave. “Hope the rest of your day is okay!”

Jungwoo gets home to an empty apartment. Jaehyun is already at Johnny’s, but like he promised there is food waiting for him in the microwave and a nice shirt and his best jeans are laid out for him on his bed. After he’s eaten, he showers, and once he’s dressed, he checks his phone to see a new text from Jaehyun – _see you soon!!!_

Jungwoo had to give it to him, Jaehyun really was the perfect friend. Jungwoo hadn’t been the best person to live with these past few months – after graduating, things had gone downhill fast. Jungwoo had applied for what seemed like a million jobs and got interviews for three. Retail was just meant to be a stepping stone, something to keep him afloat in the meantime whilst he looked for something else, but he was working so many hours that it felt like he was slowly being trapped, with no time to look for new jobs or to relax. He felt like he was never going to escape.

Jaehyun was the only thing keeping Jungwoo going in the horrible adjustment period that was life post-university, and they both knew it. Jungwoo was eternally grateful to have Jaehyun by his side, so he knew that if it had come to this – this being Jaehyun forcing Jungwoo to go to a party – then things had definitely gotten out of hand. The new year was almost upon them – Jungwoo adds _be a better friend_ and _socialise, don’t lose yourself to your job_ to the mental list of resolutions he has stacking up (namely: _find a new job!_ ).

By the time he makes it to Johnny’s, red wine in hand, it’s approaching half eight. Jungwoo promises himself he’ll try and make it until at least midnight and then rings the doorbell.

“Jungwoo!” Johnny exclaims when he opens the door, pulling Jungwoo straight into a hug. He’s dressed as Santa, with the fake beard and everything. “Man, it’s so good to see you. Jaehyun and I were getting a little worried.”

“Sorry.” Jungwoo says into Johnny’s chest.

Johnny squeezes Jungwoo one last time before releasing him. “Nothing to apologise for. You’re here now and that’s what matters. Everyone is going to be so excited to see you.”

Johnny’s right – everyone is excited to see him. Jungwoo doesn’t get a moment to breathe. Jaehyun’s crowding him, reindeer antlers poking Jungwoo in the face; Mark talks his ear off about orchestra for at least twenty minutes and Yangyang (dressed as the Grinch) coerces him into doing TikTok dances on the makeshift dancefloor. Before he knows it, its eleven and Jungwoo is in the kitchen with Taeyong talking about the success of his etsy shop. Taeyong leaves him with a business card and a pair of cute candy cane earrings, matching the ones in his own ears.

Jungwoo can feel the wine in his system now. He slips the earrings and business card into his pocket to keep them safe and raids Johnny’s cupboards for a glass so he can get himself some water. He’s pouring himself a second glass when there is a gasp from behind him.

“Jungwoo?”

Jungwoo spins to see Yukhei staring at him, mouth wide open. “Dude, it’s been so long!” Yukhei says, sweeping up Jungwoo into a hug.

“It’s good to see you too,” Jungwoo laughs.

“I was literally saying to Mark the other day it had been so long since I saw you last. It was your graduation party I think, right?” Yukhei says. “How have you been man? What are you up too?”

Jungwoo pulls a face. “Honestly not much. Just working, saving money. All that stuff. What about you?”

“I’m doing good actually! I’ve decided after I’ve graduated, I’m going to get my education certificate so I can teach.” Yukhei says. “I was debating on whether or not to do it for a while, but I’ve finally decided I’m going to. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“I’m really happy for you Yukhei.” Jungwoo says. “I think you’ll make a great teacher.”

Yukhei’s face lights up. “Thanks man, that means a lot. We should totally hang out sometime soon, I’ve missed you.”

Yukhei never fails to be earnest in everything he does. “I would like that.” Jungwoo tells him.

“I have your phone number, right?” Yukhei asks, pulling out his phone. He scrolls until he finds what he’s looking for and taps away at the screen. Jungwoo feels a buzzing in his back pocket. “A reminder to myself, so you’re at the top of my contacts. I’ll text you okay. We’re meeting up soon.” He pokes at Jungwoo’s chest with a determined look on his face.

“I’m looking forward to it.” Jungwoo tells him.

Yukhei grabs a beer. “I came in here to get Dejun a drink, so I better get back, but I’ll text you!” Yukhei waves at him, leaving Jungwoo alone again in the kitchen.

.

Jungwoo wakes up the next morning to a knock at his bedroom door.

“You awake Sleeping Beauty?” Jaehyun asks, poking his head around the door.

“I am now.” Jungwoo grumbles. His head hurts a little, but it’s not as bad as it could have been if he wasn’t so vigilant about drinking so much water before he had gone to bed.

“Did you have a good time last night? I barely saw you.” Jaehyun asks, stepping inside and closing the door. He pokes at Jungwoo until he rolls over and climbs into the bed beside him.

“It was nice.” Jungwoo answers. “I missed everyone. I hadn’t seen them in so long.”

“I’m glad.” Jaehyun says. “That was the plan.”

“I’ll try not to let it go so long next time.” Jungwoo says. “Then you and Johnny can stop worrying about me.”

Jaehyun pinches Jungwoo’s arm. “I will always worry about you, you’re my best friend. And its not just the meeting up, you weren’t responding to people’s messages either. They were messaging _me_ to ask if you were alright.”

Jungwoo pulls the covers over his face. Jungwoo is emotional on a regular day, but with the added mix of his hangover and the build up of months of feeling like a failure, today he feels especially tender. “It’s just been rough.” He sniffs.

“I know. I’m not blaming you, you know that, right?” Jaehyun says, joining him under the covers and pulling him into a hug. “I know the past few months haven’t gone the way you wanted them too, and it sucks, but you won’t be stuck like this forever.”

“I know.” Because he _does_. It’s just hard to shake off the mindset.

“Sometimes I think you just need a reminder that we’re all here for you.” Jaehyun says. “That we’re all on your side. I hope last night was that.”

Jungwoo sighs and leans into Jaehyun’s touch. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

They lie there for a little longer before Jaehyun goes to make lunch. Jungwoo gets out of bed eventually, showers and pulls on his cosiest pyjamas. It’s a day for doing nothing and he plans to spend the rest of his day on the sofa, binging whatever Netflix show Jaehyun recommends so they can talk about it.

He checks his phone and sees there are a bunch of unread messages. One from Taeyong asking for pictures whenever Jungwoo wears his earrings, several from Yangyang – someone apparently filmed them whilst they were dancing and Jungwoo only gets two seconds into the first video before he closes it in embarrassment – and finally, one from Yukhei.

_Hey!_ It reads. _Making good on my promise. Let me know when you’re free, I can work around you._

Jungwoo checks his schedule. His next day off December 23rd – in order to get new year’s eve off for Johnny’s big new year bash, he’d had to swap shifts with Yerim which meant he was working Christmas Eve _and_ Boxing Day. Hell. Jungwoo had planned to spend his day off doing absolutely nothing, but he could definitely push lying on the sofa and eating all of the chocolate in the house back to make time for Yukhei.

_I’m free on the 23 rd all day! What do you want to do?_

Yukhei texts him back almost instantly.

_Lunch!! I know a good Thai place. Will txt you the location!!! Meet @ 1????_

_See you then_ _😊_

Yukhei sends a bunch of dancing emojis in response.

.

Work gets busier and Jungwoo hates it even more. There are a few good things though – his work Secret Santa buys him expensive chocolates that he finishes in an afternoon, he wears Taeyong’s earrings to work and ends up telling at least a dozen people the name of his etsy shop and he has a cute conversation with a kid about how the mannequins definitely aren’t vampires and that they won’t hunt him down in the night when the shop has shut.

The twenty-third rolls around quickly. Jungwoo’s up early out of habit, and he joins Jaehyun and Johnny in the front room to watch some property buying show whilst he eats breakfast. Jungwoo dresses warmly – a thick jumper, his favourite wool scarf – and heads back out into the front room.

“Are you two going to watch TV all day?” He asks. Johnny and Jaehyun still haven’t moved, only now they’re watching the Real Housewives of somewhere or other.

“Yes.” Johnny says, not looking away from the screen.

“Enjoy your date!” Jaehyun says.

“It’s not a date.” Jungwoo tells him, and Jaehyun hums.

“if you say so.”

Yukhei is already outside of the restaurant when Jungwoo gets there, bouncing on the balls of his feet. It has been icy out for weeks now, the snow coming in waves. The sky is clear today, but it is still freezing.

“You could have gone inside!” Jungwoo scolds, poking at Yukhei’s red nose.

“I wanted to wait for you!” Yukhei whines, shuddering as they step through the doors and into the warmth.

“Yeah, and you could have done that inside, you fool.” Jungwoo says, rolling his eyes.

They sit down at a little table near the window and Jungwoo lets Yukhei order them a dozen things off the menu to try. “I trust your judgement,” Jungwoo tells him.

Once their order has been taken, Yukhei rests his chin on his palms and smiles at Jungwoo. “How has work been this week?”

Jungwoo groans. “Awful. Christmas brings out the worst in people.”

“Any really bad stories?” Yukhei asks.

Jungwoo tells Yukhei tale after tale. The woman who got mad a shirt was wrinkled and demanded that they iron it for her. Another man who tried to haggle down a shirt with a watermark after Jungwoo’s manager already brought it down to half price. The kid that had thrown ice cream (ice cream? In December?) over a bunch of clothes and then trailed the mess to the other end of the shop.

“Yikes.” Yukhei says. “I feel like all horrible customers must have been born in hell. I don’t understand how you can be so rude to someone?”

Jungwoo shrugs. “They’re just entitled.”

“I mean, I’m perfectly polite to servers anyway but I think I’m going to have to start being angelic to make up for all the bad people in the world.” Yukhei frowns. “None of you deserve to be treated like that.”

“You have to be careful, Yukhei, if you treat everyone like that, they’ll all fall in love with you.” Jungwoo laughs. “You’ll be breaking hearts everywhere.”

“That’s the plan.” Yukhei grins.

Yukhei is easy to talk to. He has so much to say and he is so excited to talk about it all. Jungwoo finds himself laughing along as Yukhei talks about uni, wild nights out with Kunhang and the fact their flat has adopted a cat (“Louis.” Yukhei says, as he scrolls through the Instagram page Yangyang had made for him. “Isn’t he the cutest!?”). They talk about Yukhei’s dissertation and how scary it feels to be graduating and all the plans Yukhei has for the next year.

“I meant what I said the other night, I think you’ll make a really great teacher.” Jungwoo says. “The kids will love you.”

Yukhei rubs at his neck and laughs. “I really hope so.” He says. “I’ve got my fingers crossed for you too though man, you’re definitely getting a new job next year. I’m manifesting it right now.” Yukhei presses his fingers to his temples and squeezes his eyes shut.

“It’s going to be hard to get a job when I have no idea what I want to do.” Jungwoo sighs. “This is what I get for doing an Arts degree.”

“Rubbish.” Yukhei waves his hand at Jungwoo. “You can do anything you put your mind to. You’re smart and talented and any workplace would be lucky to have you. You’ll find something, I know it.”

“Stop, you flatterer.” Jungwoo slaps his hand away.

“I mean every word I say.” Yukhei sniffs, and Jungwoo smiles softly.

They argue over the bill. Jungwoo suggests they split it but Yukhei pays for it all before Jungwoo can work out who is paying for what. “You just pay next time,” Yukhei tells him. “We’re making this a regular thing; I’m not going six months without seeing you again.”

Almost two hours have passed since they met up and Jungwoo finds himself not wanting to go home just yet. He suggests to Yukhei that they explore the Christmas market and Yukhei agrees happily.

“I’m buying you a hat.” Jungwoo says when they come across a knitwear stall. “Your ears are bright red. They are going to fall off if you’re not careful.”

“You don’t have to,” Yukhei tells him.

“Too late.” Jungwoo says pulling out his wallet. “Think of it as an early Christmas present.”

“If we’re doing presents that means I have to get you something.” Yukhei says, looking around at the other stalls.

“No, you don’t, you just paid for our food,” Jungwoo says, but Yukhei’s already gone.

Jungwoo sighs, finishes paying for the hat and spends the next five minutes wandering around on his own trying to find Yukhei. It shouldn’t be hard – Yukhei is a giant, he’s not exactly hard to miss – but he can be elusive when he wants to be. When Jungwoo finally finds him, Yukhei is looking very proud of himself, and he hands a brown paper bag over to Jungwoo with a grin. “Merry Christmas!”

Jungwoo peers inside.

“It’s a candle.” Yukhei tells him. “The lady says its infused with bergamot which apparently helps you feel less tired? I don’t know, I just thought you could light it after you got home from work or something, maybe it’ll help you take your mind off things.”

“Thank you Yukhei.” Jungwoo says gently, holding the bag to his chest.

Yukhei lets Jungwoo pull that hat over his head and then they are headed back to the bus station.

“Are you going to Johnny’s new year’s party?” Yukhei asks.

Jungwoo nods. “Yeah. I’ll see you there?”

“Definitely.” Yukhei says as Jungwoo’s bus pulls up. “Today was really fun. I’ll text you?”

“Yeah. Bye!” Jungwoo waves at Yukhei from the window and Yukhei waves back, staying at the stop until Jungwoo’s bus pulls away.

When he gets back to the apartment, Jaehyun is still on the sofa.

“I can’t believe you’re still there.” Jungwoo laughs. “Where’s Johnny?”

“Snack run.” Jaehyun says, muting the TV and gesturing for Jungwoo to join him. “How was your date?”

“It was not a date.” Jungwoo says again. “But it was really fun. I missed hanging out with people other than you and Johnny.”

“I’m glad.” Jaehyun laughs. “I wouldn’t want to spend all my free time with us either. What did you do?”

Jungwoo recalls the events of the day and then again when Johnny returns fifteen minutes later with a bag full of snacks and a bunch of questions.

“Get into your comfies,” Johnny says. “I’m making hot chocolate with marshmallows and you are legally obligated to join us now you’re home.”

“Yes dad.” Jungwoo says.

Jungwoo sets Yukhei’s candle down on his bedside table before he starts to change. He plugs his phone in to charge and sees a message from Yukhei waiting.

_Good things will happen to you soon!!!!! I’m calling it right now. Tnx for a great day, here is Louis as a treat <3_.

Jungwoo saves the picture of Louis pressed up against Yukhei’s cheek to his camera roll.

.

The store shuts early on Christmas eve and Jungwoo is ecstatic. He practically runs out into the carpark, straight to Johnny’s car.

“Go, go, go!” Jungwoo yells as he dives into the backseat. “Get me out of here!”

“That bad?” Johnny asks with a laugh, waiting for Jungwoo to do his seatbelt before he starts to reverse.

“Yes, and it’ll be worse on Boxing day,” Jungwoo says.

“I’m praying for you.” Johnny tells him.

They pick up pizza on the way back to Jaehyun and Jungwoo’s place and spent the rest of the evening eating and taking cute pictures for Instagram. It’s fun and Jungwoo is thankful they both ended up deciding to stay with him rather than go back to their families for Christmas. It would have been hard, working and coming back to an empty apartment in what is supposed to be a season of cheer.

Jungwoo posts a picture of the three of them to Instagram, debating on what to caption it for at least ten minutes before settling on ‘ _love my dads!_ 👨👨👦’. Almost instantly, it is flooded with likes.

**moontaeil94:** cute

**tenlee_1001:** omg!!!! legends only

**lucas_xx444:** 😍

Christmas morning starts bright and early when Jungwoo is woken up by Johnny singing Mariah Carey at the top of his lungs. He heads out into the kitchen to see Johnny serenading Jaehyun, walking in just as Johnny sings “All I want for Christmas is you!” whilst Jaehyun sits, bleary eyed on one of the barstools, tea in hand.

“Merry Christmas!” Johnny pulls Jungwoo into a hug. “Did I wake you?”

“Of course you fucking did.” Jaehyun complains. “You woke up the entirety of the city.”

“Oops?” Johnny doesn’t sound the slightest bit apologetic.

“It’s fine.” Jungwoo laughs. “The earlier we’re all up, the earlier we can open presents!”

Jungwoo is very happy with his gifts – an expensive bottle of wine from Ten, a custom-made hat from Taeyong (commissioned, of course) and the spa vouchers from Johnny and Jaehyun.

“You need to relax,” Jaehyun says. “Treat yourself to a weekend away, get a massage, sit in the sauna.”

“You can take someone else or just go twice,” Johnny adds.

When he eventually gets around to checking his phone, he has a dozen unread messages. One from his parents, one from his sister, several in the group chat he has with his friends and a bunch from Yukhei.

_Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

_Oh.. are you still asleep sorry Ik you had a long day yday_

_Kunhang got Louis a jumper!!! Look!! My grumpy little elf_ 😙😙

Jungwoo can’t help but smile at Louis’ deadpan expression and Yukhei’s cheery grin.

_Merry Christmas!_ He replies. _What a cutie!!!! When do I get to meet him?_ _☹_

Yukhei’s response is almost instantaneous.

_Louis doesn’t need any more compliments so I’m going to pretend you said I was cute_

_Also anytime! Whenever you are free! Come over!_

_I’ll get back to you on when I’m free, might have to be in the new year </3 _

Yukhei replies, _Louis will be waiting_ 👁👄👁

After a day filled with food, singing and cheesy films, Jungwoo settles down on the sofa beside Johnny and Jaehyun and sighs. “You know,” He says, “I think this might be my best Christmas yet. We should do it again sometime.”

“What, spend Christmas together?” Jaehyun asks. “We can do it next year if you want.”

“No, I mean… dedicate an entire day to being in our pyjamas and cooking and doing nothing. I haven’t properly done anything like this for a long time.” Jungwoo says.

“We can schedule it in. At least once a month.” Johnny says. “Triple J relaxation day. If your name doesn’t start with a J, you’re not allowed in. It’s an exclusive club.”

“I like the sound of that.” Jungwoo says, dropping his head onto Jaehyun’s shoulder and drifting off to sleep.

.

Jungwoo is not naïve. Yukhei is definitely flirting with him.

They texts don’t seem to stop, not that Jungwoo minds it. In fact, he loves it. He’d spent so long avoiding his phone so he wouldn’t have to talk to people about how much he was struggling that having it light up with a message every ten minutes felt good. It felt like progress.

Yukhei is funny. He messages Jungwoo about everything – about his day, about Louis, about whatever gossip he’s heard from Dejun, about the funniest things he finds on r/DivorcedBirds. He tells Jungwoo he looks good whenever Jungwoo sends him a mirror picture from the bathroom at work, tells him that he misses him and is excited to see him again in person, tells him he’s excited to start crossing things off of their list of places they plan to visit in the new year.

Jungwoo is in two minds about it all. Yukhei is a good friend, always has been, and part of him wants it to stay that way, but it’s mostly the part of him that is filled with fear about the future and everything that comes with it. The other half of him is excited and eager. Jungwoo hasn’t felt this good about a lot of things – himself, namely – for a while now and whatever it was that was going on between them felt good. Yukhei? Interested in him? Clearly he was doing something right.

New year’s ever rolls around in the blink of an eye. Jungwoo enlists Jaehyun’s help in getting ready. He doesn’t say anything about Yukhei or what might happen, but he doesn’t have to. Jaehyun has known him for years and can read him like a book. Jaehyun picks out a shirt, smudges highlighter over Jungwoo’s cheekbones and sprays him with one of Johnny’s nice colognes and then pats Jungwoo on the back and says, “Go get him tiger.”

Jungwoo feels better about this party than the last one. This time he was wide awake, excited to see his friends, buzzing with energy and the alcohol running through his system. He’s out in the garden, talking to Yuta whilst he smokes, when Yukhei tracks him down, throwing an arm over his shoulder and pulling Jungwoo in close. He doesn’t say anything other than hello, letting Yuta and Jungwoo finish their conversation, only speaking again when Yuta puts out his cigarette and heads back inside.

“I missed you.” Yukhei says.

“You saw me a week ago.” Jungwoo laughs, but his heart is racing in his chest.

“A week is too long.” Yukhei sighs. “I almost came to see you at work, you know? But I thought about what you said, about how busy the shop was, and I didn’t want to get in your way.”

“You should have come.” Jungwoo tells him. “It would have been nice to see you. A shred of light amongst the evil shoppers and their returns.”

Yukhei grins. “Next time then.”

Jungwoo nods. “Next time. Do you want to head inside?”

“Yeah – we should dance!” Yukhei’s arm drops from around Jungwoo’s shoulders and he takes Jungwoo’s hand in his instead.

“Do you not want anything to drink?” Jungwoo asks. “We can raid Johnny’s cupboards for the good stuff. I know where he keeps it.”

“Oh, I started early.” Yukhei laughs. “Yangyang made us do shots whilst we were getting ready. I am going to pass out before twelve.”

“I’ll make sure you stay awake.” Jungwoo promises. “We’re bringing in the new year with good vibes, remember?”

Yukhei widens his eyes, as if somehow, it will help get rid of the sleepiness. “Right. I can do this.”

Midnight creeps up on them. Taeil beats everyone at beer pong, Donghyuck sings loud enough to be heard over the music and Jungwoo and Yukhei dance for hours.

“Five minutes everyone!” Johnny shouts over the noise.

Jungwoo’s hair is stuck to his forehead as he grabs a hold of Yukhei, and they follow everyone out into the garden.

“New year, new job for Jungwoo, Taeyong’s etsy shop succeeds, I graduate and get onto my masters.” Yukhei chants under his breath, jumping up and down to warm himself up. It’s cute and Jungwoo takes Yukhei’s hand in his and squeezes it lightly.

Jungwoo watches as everyone around him chatters, all his friends here in the same place. There is something different about ringing in the new year in this way, with everyone around him. The hopes he has for the following year feel so much stronger than they would have if he had been alone on his sofa.

The countdown begins. “10…9…8…”

Jungwoo turns to Yukhei. “Happy New Year, Yukhei.”

Yukhei’s nose is red and his fingers are cold as he wraps his arm around Jungwoo’s waist and pulls him in. “Happy New Year, Jungwoo.”

The new year starts with fireworks and a kiss. It is short and sweet and Yukhei pulls away with a happy grin and Jungwoo pulls away with a laugh, ducking to bury his head in the crook of Yukhei’s neck. Somewhere behind him, Jungwoo can hear Johnny whistling and he wonders who else waited for the cover of midnight to steal their chance.

“I know you have work in the afternoon, but I would really like it if we could hang out for a little longer.” Yukhei says, arms still wrapped around Jungwoo.

“I would really like that too.” Jungwoo says.

They slip inside whilst everyone sings and Jungwoo raids Johnny’s cupboards for the hot chocolate he knows is hidden there. They kiss against the kitchen counter until everyone starts to make their way back inside. Jaehyun catches his eye over the crowd and gives him a thumbs up and a head tilt, a silent _everything okay_? Jungwoo nods back. Everything is more than okay.


End file.
